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McGOWN^S PASS 
AND VICINITY 

TV] 

A SKETCH OF THE MOST INTER- 
ESTING SCENIC AND HISTORIC 
SECTION OF CENTRAL PARK IN 
THE CITY OF NEW YORK 



BY 

EDWARD HAGAMAN HALL 



Published under the auspices of 

The American Scenic and Historic 
Preservation Society- 
New York, 1905 

Copyright, 1905, by Edward Hagaman Hall, New York 



OCT IlJ«Ot> 

Ola/, n. /9'^4"| 






CONTENTS 



Introduction: 

I. Civil History of McGown's Pass and Vicinity 
up to the Revolution .... 

II. McGown's Pass in the Revolution . 

III. McGown's Pass in the War of 1812-15 . 

IV. Civil History Continued— Mt. St. Vincent- 

Central Park 

Authorities 



PAGE 

3 
6 

17 
31 

40 
47 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Map of McGown's Pass and Vicinity 1776 
McGown's Pass, 1905 ..... 
Fort Clinton, 1905 ..... 

Blockhouse No. i, 1905 .... 

Fort Clinton and Harlem Creek looking east, 1814 
Fort Fish, Fort Clinton and Nutter's Battery, looking 

northeast, 18 14 
Barrier Gate and Blockhouse from Southwest, 18 14 
Barrier Gate and Blockhouse from Northeast, 181 4 
Guide Map to McGown's Pass and Vicinity 

2 



16 
16 
16 
16 

32 

32 
3^ 
32 
4& 



Introduction. 



/CENTRAL PARK of New York City is the most famous 
city park in America. From both the scenic and his- 
toric standpoints, the most interesting section of the park is 
the zone lying between the latitude of io6th street and iioth 
street, which was added to the Park in 1863. -^^ ^ meeting 
held in May, 1863, the Commissioners of Central Park for- 
mally declared that this addition " gives completeness to the 
territorial area of the Park ; // contains its finest natural 
scenery^ and will be regarded as one of the achievements of 
the Board that will stand as a memorial of its judgment, of 
its integrity of purpose, and of its persevering determination 
in the accomplishment of a great public benefit," — words 
which have lost none of the force of truthfulness in the forty- 
two years which have elapsed since they were written. 

The foresight which has preserved in its natural condition 
the rugged heights in the northern part of the Park has also 
fortunately saved from the obliterating advance of modern 
improvement some interesting vestiges of stirring events in 
the two wars with Great Britain. To assist in the identifi- 
cation of these sites and to recall something of the history 
of McGown's Pass and vicinity, the following pages have 
been written. 

It cannot fail to add to the interest of the visitor to the 
Park to recall that the Royal Governor, Council, and Co- 
lonial Assembly once met at McGown's Pass ; that it was 
fortified and occupied during the Revolution ; that Washing- 

3 



ton himself was there ; that it was again fortified in the War 
of 1812-15 ; that for many years it was the seat of a cele- 
brated charitable and educational institution, — the Academy 
and Convent of Mt. St. Vincent ; that wounded soldiers were 
nursed there during the Civil War ; and that from the first 
stone tavern kept by Jacob Dyckman, Jr., in the first half of 
the eighteenth century, down to the present McGown's Pass 
Tavern, it has been devoted almost without interruption to 
one form or another of public hospitality. 

It is gratifying to learn, as these pages go to press, that 
Park Commissioner John J. Pallas has given instructions 
for the mounting of the two historic cannon which have for 
years lain rusting upon the ground at Fort Clinton ; and 
that he will place upon the mount an historical inscription 
prepared by the American Scenic and Historic Preserva- 
tion Society. The alternative inscriptions recommended by 
the Society's Committee on Sites and Inscriptions, consist- 
ing of Albert Ulmann, Francis Whiting Halsey, Reginald 
Pelham Bolton, and the writer, are as follows : 

This Eminence 

Commanding the Approach to New York City by Way of 

McGOWN'S PASS 

Was occupied by British Troops September 15, 1776, and was 

Fortified with the Heights Westward to the Hudson River 

During the Revolution. 

Evacuated November 21, 1783. 



Here, on August 18, 181 4, the Citizens of New York Began 

FORT CLINTON 

Which, with Fort Fish and Nutter's Battery Adjacent, 

Formed Part of a Similar Chain of Defenses 

in the Second War with Great Britain. 



Erected by the Commissioners of Parks 
1905, 

4 



Or this shorter inscription : 

This Eminence 
Commanding the Approach to New York by Way of 

McGOWN'S PASS 

Was occupied by British Troops September 15, 1776 

and Evacuated November 21, 1783. 



Here, Beginning August 18, 1814, 

The Citizens of New York Built 

FORT CLINTON 

which, with Fort Fish and Nutter's Battery Adjacent, 

was designed to Protect the City 

in the Second War with Great Britain. 



Erected by the Commissioners of Parks 
1905. 

With such an inscription on Fort CHnton, and simple 
signs reading " Fort Fish " and " Nutter's Battery " on 
the other sites, the visitor will be greatly assisted in identi- 
fying the landmarks more fully described in the following 
pages. 

E. H. H. 

New York, August, 1905. 



McGOWN'S PASS 
AND VICINITY 



CIVIL HISTORY UP TO THE REVOLUTION. 

TO the thoughtful person contemplating a landscape 
of great natural beauty, it gives increased pleasure to 
know that the ground which he sees before him has been the 
scene of important human events. 

The visitor to Central Park, in New York City, who has 
passed through the scenes of varied beauty with which the 
most artfully concealed art has assisted Nature to delight 
the eye in other parts of the Park and has come to the 
bolder scenery at the northern end, cannot fail to find an 
added interest in the knowledge that these heights,* over- 
looking the plains of Harlem, were twice the theatre of stir- 
ring historical events. 

The relation of the events which we are about to recall 



* The highest elevation in the northern end of the Park is what was 
called the Great Hill, now the Circle, between the West Drive and 105th 
street. It is 130 feet above the water (4). 

6 



to the striking features of natural scenery so fortunately pre- 
served in the great City's beautiful Reservation is not acci- 
dental. There is a very strong probability that in a region 
which has any history at all, the notable features of the 
landscape will be intimately connected with that history. It 
was as natural for the Indians to select a rock like the 
Devil's Dans Kammer in Newburgh Bay for their religious 
rites, or Council Rock in Monroe County for their Councils, 
as it was for the white men to choose Plymouth Rock as a 
secure landing for the Pilgrims. It was a common instinct 
which led the Indians to assemble in conference under the 
great elm tree in Cambridge before the advent of the Euro- 
pean, and Washington to stand under it when he assumed 
command of the Continental Army. It is the first impulse 
of the military engineer to erect his field fortifications on 
commanding heights, which are invariably picturesque. 
When Nature piled up the rocky pinnacle on which Edin- 
burgh Castle is perched, and molded the surrounding hills, 
she not only built the foundation for one of the most pictur- 
esque cities of the Old World, but she also built a theatre 
for human drama. Quebec is the most picturesque City in 
English-speaking America, and, as might be expected, her 
coronet of battlements tells the story of the marriage of 
Nature and History, of Beauty and Tragedy. 

Illustrations might be multiplied indefinitely to show the 
intimate connection between bold natural scenery and 
notable human annals. It is not surprising, therefore, that 
the striking topographical features in the vicinity of Mc- 
Gown's Pass,* in the northeastern corner of Central Park, 



* McGown is here spelled as the family spelled it when they owned 
and occupied the property. It is spelled thus by Daniel McGown in a 
deed executed by him in 1758 (lo) ; and by the McGown heirs when 
they parted with the property in 1845 (11). 

7 



should have stories, if not sermons, in their stones, and 
books in their running brooks. 

In order fully to understand what follows, it is necessary 
to describe what constituted McGown's Pass. 

When Manhattan Island was in its natural condition, 
a broad inlet called Harlem Creek made in directly west- 
ward from the Harlem River between io6th street and io8th 
street,* its head extending up to the heights of Central Park 
just within the Fifth avenue line. On the south side of the 
creek was an extensive and impassable marsh. The creek 
received the waters of three rivulets, the largest of which 
rose near the Hudson River in the Hollow Way of Man- 
hattanville. Another, which still contributes to the beauty 
of Central Park, originated somewhere in the vicinity of 95th 
street and 9th avenue and entered Central Park at loist 
street and 8th avenue. Continuing in a generally north- 
easterly direction to the intersection of the imaginary lines 
of 6th avenue and 109th street, it flowed around the base of 
the heights in the northeastern part of the park and emptied 
into Harlem Creek at 5th avenue and 107th street. 

The course of this little stream within the Park can be 
followed to-day, and is one of the most romantic walks in 
that enclosure. Entering at the West looth street gate, one 
sees lying in the ancient valley immediately to the northward 
a charming little pond named the Pool, which is an expan- 
sion of this streamlet. Following its outlet through the 
stone arch called the Glenspan Bridge under the West 
Drive, one comes to the Loch (once the Lotos Pond) ; and 
continuing through another stone arch called Huddlestone 



* For the sake of brevity and convenience of description, modern 
boundary lines will be mentioned as if they previously existed. The 
reader will understand, of course, that Central Park and the numbered 
streets mentioned herein had not been laid out at the time of which we 
are speaking. 

8 



Bridge under the East Drive, he reaches the Harlem Mere, 
formed by the further impounding of its waters. 

Just before the stream left the Park and entered into 
Harlem Creek, it formerly received from the north another 
tributary, originating somewhere west of 8th avenue and i loth 
street. This has been obliterated. (References, 8, 13, 22 
and 44) . Early in the history of Harlem, the flat land lying 
north of the Central Park Heights and east of Morningside 
Heights was acquired by Abraham de la Montanye and was 
known as Montanye's Flat (40), and the stream issuing 
therefrom was called Montanye's Rivulet. The Montanye 
farm subsequently passed into possession of the Nutter 
family (40), from which the name of Nutter's Battery was 
derived. (See page 36 following.) 

The oldest long thoroughfare on Manhattan Island, fol- 
lowing, quite likely, an ancient Indian trail — for the children 
of the forest were wonderful civil engineers, and, with their, 
natural instinct for choosing lines of least resistance, mapped 
out many of the great avenues of communication of their 
white successors — was the ancient Post Road, or King's 
Bridge Road, connecting the little old City of New York at 
the southern end of the island with the bridge across Spuy- 
ten Duyvil Creek. This old road ran up on the easterly 
side of Central Park, approximately along the line of 2d 
and 3d avenues, until it reached about 8ist street and 3d 
avenue. Then, to avoid the swamps and inlets tributary to 
the East and Harlem Rivers, it bent sharply to the north- 
westward, entered Central Park at 9 2d street and Fifth 
avenue, and escaped the head of Harlem Creek by passing 
over the height on which now stands McGown's Pass tavern. 
At the crest of the hill, the road was coincident with the 
present East Drive at that point, but as it went over the hill 
and started on the down grade, it did not curve to the west- 

9 



ward as the present drive does, but bent slightly to the 
right. At the foot of the declivity, about midway between 
the lines of io8th and 109th streets and 5th and 6th 
avenues, it crossed the rivulet before mentioned, and then 
forked, the left fork continuing to King's Bridge and the 
right fork to Harlem Village. At a later period, the fork 
was made on the south side of the rivulet. (References, 8, 
13, 22 and 44.) With the aid of the accompanying map, 
the hollow of the old road-bed, forming the original 
McGown's Pass, can be traced distinctly from the present 
East Drive down to the edge of Harlem Mere. 

The hill on which McGown's Pass tavern stands has an 
elevation of from 80 to 90 feet above tide water. This em- 
inence, like Bayard's Hill, Richmond Hill, Murray Hill, and 
the heights on which the old Beekman, Apthorpe, Hamilton 
and Morris Mansions stood, or stand, was early acquired by 
the prosperous colonist for a building site. 

Up to the year 17 12, this property had remained part of 
the Common Lands of the old town of Harlem, and appears 
to have had no special designation, although the rivulet at 
the foot of the hill was referred to as "the run." In the 
drawing of lots in 17 12 by the citizens of Harlem, Samuel 
Waldron drew lot No. 7 in the first division, a ten acre por- 
tion of which on the east side of the highway was identical 
with the McGown place of later days. By exchange, Abra- 
ham de la Montanye added this to a lot which he possessed 
adjacent on the south, including the site of the Black Horse 
tavern of later times. In 1729, Montanye sold out to his 
brother-in-law George Dyckman, and in 1748 George Dyck- 
man sold 20 acres to Jacob Dyckman, Jr., and Adolph 
Benson. The latter two divided the property, Jacob Dyck- 
man, Jr., taking the portion which he afterwards sold to 
Mrs. McGown. Here he laid the foundation for the tradi- 



tions of public hospitality which have since characterized 
the place by maintaining a public house for about ten years 

(40). 

That the first tavern erected on this historic property was 
an institution of capacity and dignity is evidenced by the 
interesting fact that the Colonial Assembly met here from 
October 24 to November 11, 1752, when the Assembly 
Chamber in the old English City Hall (later Federal Hall) 
which stood at Wall and Nassau streets, was out of repair. 
The Governor and Council, while in attendance on the 
sessions, stayed at the neighboring house of Benjamin 
Benson, which stood where the house of Alderman S. 
Benson McGown subsequently stood, in East io6th street 
near 3 avenue (40, 3). 

The Royal Governor of the Colony at that time was 
Admiral George Clinton (who is not to be confounded with 
George Clinton, first Republican Governor of the State), 
He was a son of the Earl of Lincoln and father of Sir 
Henry Clinton, the latter of whom came to McGown's Pass 
in 1776 (as we shall see a little later) under circumstances 
of which Sir George little dreamed as he presided over the 
distinguished body assembled here in 1752. 

The meeting of the Colonial Government at this place is 
confirmed by the following extract from a law which the 
Assembly passed on the last day of its session, Novem- 
ber II. The act, entitled, " An act for the payment of the 
salaries and services of the Government until the first day 
of September, 1753," after making appropriations for the 
salaries of Governor Clinton and other functionaries, 
continues : 

"To Alexander Lamb as Doorkeeper to the General 
Assembly ... for providing firewood for the use of 
the General Assembly ; for payment of the use of Mr. 

II 



Dykeman's house ; and for sundry repairs necessary to be 
made in the Assembly Chamber in the City Hall in New 
York, the sum of twenty-four pounds and ten shillings" (3). 

It is a tribute to the natural attractions of the McGown's 
Pass locality, which have never been lost, and to the ampli- 
tude of the accommodations provided by Mine Host 
Dyckman's capacious stone tavern, that the Government 
preferred coming here to holding its meeting in one of the 
numerous city taverns. 

And apropos of Colonial taverns and Colonial Governors 
in general, it may be mentioned in passing that there was 
often a peculiar bond of sympathy between the two. The 
observant Professor Peter Kalm, who visited New York in 
1748 (during Governor Clinton's incumbency), remarks 
upon this subject that " the King appoints the Governor 
.according to his royal pleasure, but the inhabitants of the 
Province make up His Excellency's salary. Therefore, a 
man entrusted with this place has greater or lesser revenues 
according as he knows how to gain the confidence of the 
inhabitants. There are examples of Governors in this and 
other provinces of North America, who, by their dissensions 
with the inhabitants of their respective governments, have 
lost their whole salary, His Majesty having no power to 
make them pay it. If a Governor had no other resource in 
these circumstances he would be obliged either to resign his 
office or be content with an income too small for his 
dignity ; or else conform himself in everything to the incli- 
nations of the inhabitants. But there are several stated 
profits which in some measure make up for this. No one is 
allowed to keep a public house without the Governor's leave, 
which is only to be obtained by a certain fee, according to 
the circumstances of the person. Some governors, there- 
fore, when the inhabitants refused to pay them a salary, 

12 



have hit upon the expedient of doubhng the number of inns 
in their province" (46). 

CUnton was one of the class of Governors to whom 
Prof. Kalm refers who was perpetually at odds with the 
people. He insisted on the dignity of the Royal preroga- 
tive, and could not conciliate the inhabitants. The conse- 
quence was, he had a strenuous time with an obstreperous 
Assembly over his salary, and complained bitterly to the 
Lords of Trade of his meagre support (35). 

But far be it from us to suggest that the inauguration of 
a tavern at McGown's Pass during Clinton's administration 
was an artificial product of the impoverished Governor's 
needs and consequent enterprise. There was, no doubt, a 
natural demand for it just at this place. The brevity of the 
intervals between the numerous houses of refreshment that 
sprang up along the ancient thoroughfare from the Battery 
to Spuyten Duyvil Creek — the Province Arms, the Bull's 
Head, the Dove, the Black Horse, Dyckman's (later 
McGown's), Day's, the Bluebell, the Dutch tavern at 
King's Bridge, and their intermediates, are eloquent testi- 
monials of the consuming thirst generated by the journey 
from one end of the island to the other, and the pressing 
need for frequent places of alleviation. And we may con- 
clude that Dyckman filled the proverbial " long felt want " 
when he opened the pioneer inn on the heights in the 
northeastern corner of Central Park, whether he had guber- 
natorial incitement thereto or not. 

But grateful as a suffering public must have been to the 
founder of the first " hospice " at this midway station be- 
tween the termini of the island, it has allowed his name to 
be forgotten, so far as identification with this spot is con- 
cerned, and has perpetuated in its stead, the name of the 
next owner, to whom we must now give our attention. 

13 



In the year 1740, Captain Daniel McGown, a seafaring 
man whose name indicates his Scotch antecedents, married 
the widow Shourd (born Catharine Benson). They had one 
child, Andrew, who was born in 1742 (40), and whom we 
shall call Andrew McGown, Sr.* Captain McGown was lost 
at sea some years before the Revolution (40), — in 1759 one 
writer says (^s), — and soon thereafter his widow Catharine 
bought from Jacob Dyckman, Jr., the old stone tavern on 
the hill and 10 acres of land. Dyckman retired to his 
property near Spuyten Duyvil, and Mrs. McGown, with the 
assistance of her son Andrew, maintained the tavern (40). 
Thereafter the place was known as McGown's Pass. 

The question has often been asked, " What was (or is) 
McGown's Pass ? " Gen. Joseph G. Swift, in his description 
of the works at McGown's Pass in 1814, says: ''Over 
McGown's Pass is a blockhouse" (48). This blockhouse 
was half-way down the northeast side of the hill from the 
McGown house to the bridge, and spanned a gap in the 
earthworks through which the highway ran. The road 
here ran through a shallow hollow between the great rock 
on which Fort Clinton was built on one side, and a lesser 
outcropping on the other side. Gen. Swift evidently re- 
garded this little hollow on the hill-side as the Pass, and the 
general usage of the word would seem to confirm the opin- 
ion that either this, or the road running through it, was the 
Pass. 

John Randel, Jr., civil engineer, who surveyed the upper 
part of the island for the Commissioners of 1807, says, 



* Andrew McGown, Sr., married on Nov. 21, 1784, Margaret Benson 
(b, 1766; d. 1851). He died Oct. 16, 1820. He had a son Andrew, 
styled Major Andrew, or Andrew, Jr., who was born in 1786 and died 
March 2, 1870; and another named Samson B., who was born in 1797, 
and was an alderman of New York (40). 

14 



'*' The Barrier Gate at McGown's Pass was at 107th street, 
116 yards east of Sixth Avenue " (39). This coincides with 
Gen. Swift's location, at the point designated as McGown's 
Pass on the accompanying map of Central Park. 

A more typical Pass, however, is the valley, running in a 
generally northeasterly direction from loist street and 
3th avenue to the edge of Harlem Plain at the foot of 
McGown's Hill. The hills on either side of this valley are 
from 90 to 130 feet high. Through this valley ran the riv- 
ulet before described and now converted into the Pool, the 
Loch, and its connecting thread. In an illustrated descrip- 
tion of the northern end of Central Park printed in 1859 ^^^^ 
valley is called " McGown's Pass." " The extreme northwest 
corner of the Park," it says, " is occupied by a large hill, 
which bounds McGown's Pass on the west " (50). 

Another and more modern writer refers to the rivulet 
'' flowing through the Pass " (22), meaning this transverse, 
valley. 

Thus, while the topography of the locality tends to con- 
firm the latter meaning, the usage of the majority of early 
map makers and writers goes to support General Swift's 
meaning ; and we are pretty safe in regarding McGown's 
Pass as that portion of the ancient but still traceable King's 
Bridge Road, running from the East Drive at McGown's 
Pass Tavern, down across the lawn on the northeast side of 
the hill to the present Harlem Mere. 

Here at this much traveled " Pass," the widow McGown 
and her son Andrew not only found mental diversion from 
the traffic of this important thoroughfare, but they also found 
ample patronage for the public house which they maintained. 
Prior to the Revolution, McGown's Pass Tavern was a 
favorite resort for gentlemen coming from the City with 
their foxhounds to hunt (40). 

IS 



On maps of the Revolutionary period, the house on the 
east side of the road corresponding to the present McGown's 
Pass Tavern is marked " McGown's," * and on the other 
side of the road, a few rods to the south, is the " Black 
Horse Tavern " (31). 



* It may not be arfiiss to mention two other remotely possible ex- 
planations which have occurred to the writer, without claiming anything 
for their validity. 

The sharp westward bend of the King's Bridge Road which carried it 
over McGown's Hill was for the purpose of passing the head of Harlem 
Creek and marsh which extended up to its base. The " Pass " may 
have meant the place where this notable and inconvenient obstacle was 
passed. 

The other suggestion is based on a curious use of the word " Pass " 
by seafaring men, which can yet be observed at Nantucket and perhaps 
elsewhere. It is not mentioned in the dictionaries. When one of these 
old mariners decides to retire from the sea and live on land, he selects 
the site of his home with reference to its commanding what he calls a 
" water pass," or a " land pass." A " water pass " is a place where 
he can enjoy the diversion of seeing ships pass by. A " land pass " is 
a place where he can view objects passing on land. The word as used 
by the natives seems to apply more to the view than to the route of 
travel (45). 

Now there is no record to show that before the advent of the 
McGowns at the place under discussion it was called a Pass. Daniel 
McGown was a sea-captain. Soon after his widow acquired the prop- 
erty it became known as McGown's Pass. With the knowledge of 
these facts and the custom of which we have spoken, we might 
be tempted to find the solution of our problem in the " land pass " of 
the old seaman's phrase, if the documentary evidence were not so 
strongly in another direction. 



16 




MAP OF McGOWN'S PASS AND VICINITY IN 1776. 



With Iccation ot snnne more rr.odern sites. 

Division marks in margins represent projection of center lines of streets and avenues Sites 
and topographical features are carefully locaied with reference to these lines : 1 . American bat- 
tery, 1776, whence Washington watched Battle of Harlem Heights 2. American battery, 1776. 
3. Matje David's Vly, 1776. Ground embraced between 4, 8, 14 ard 15 was battlefield of Harlem 
Heights; eastern portion now called Momingside Heights. 4. Claremont restaurant, 1905 
5. Grant's tomb, 1905. 6, Barrier Gate, 1 814. 7. Fort Laight, 1814. 8. Blockhouse No, 4, 1 814. 
3. 1814. 10. Barnard College, 1905; bloody buckwheat field, Sept. 16, 1776, 
12. St Luke's Hospital, 1905. 13. Blockhouse No. 2, 1814. 
Divine, 1905. 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, British fortifica- 
3n the Great Hill ,the Circle) in Central Park ; 22 is also sife of Fort Clin- 
1814. 24. Fort Fish, 1814. 25, Blockhouse No. 1, 
Point redoubt, 1814. 27. Mill Rock blockhouse. 
1814. 28. American redoubt, evac 



6. 
9. Blockhouse No. 3, 1814. 
11. Columbia University, 1905. 
14. Cathedral of St. John the 
tions erected 1 776 ; 20 is or 
ton, 1814 ; 23 is also site of Nutter's battery, 
1814. 26. Bntish redoubt, 1776; Benson's 

acuated Sept. 15, 1776. 29. Now Mt. Morris Park. (Drawn, 



1905, by the author, from, whom prints of original i i inches square can be obtained.) 




o 

• > 

o 

Z hi 



to « 

o ■^ 

^ 1 

O 00 

O 

CQ "a 



II. 

McGOWN'S PASS IN WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 

The commanding position of McGovvn's Pass on the 
main north-and-south highway of Manhattan Island, midway 
between its extremities, and at a point where the encroach- 
ment of Harlem Creek and marsh narrowed the island to a 
width of only about 2,100 yards, gave this place and the 
adjacent heights dominating Harlem Plain great strategic 
value to the military engineer. A British description of 
New York Island during the Revolution refers to McGown's 
Pass as a place " where a few troops might stop an army " 

(47). 

The active military history of the place begins with the 
occupation of the Island by the British on September 15, 
1776, although prior to that date many bodies of troops had 
marched up or down through the Pass, and many a train of 
heavy wagons or artillery had plodded by the old tavern on 
the way from or to the then distant City. 

After the American defeat on Long Island, August 27, 
1776, and the retreat to Manhattan Island, the British 
manoeuvred to "bottle up" the Americans on the Island. 
Vv'ashington saw his peril and by September 10 began the 
removal of valuable stores from the City preparatory to ulti- 

17 



mate evacuation. On September ii, a general council of 
war voted to evacuate the island below Harlem (2). Then 
the rumbling of wheels, the crack of whiplashes, and the 
shouts of drivers urging their burdened beasts over the hill,, 
increased, and through the dust pulverized by pounding 
hoof and rolling tire tramped many a soldier who was soon 
to trudge back through this Pass to the City as a prisoner 
of war. (See page 23.) 

On the night of the 14th, Washington had moved his 
headquarters from the City to the Morris Mansion in i6oth 
street (26), but all the armament and stores were noi yet 
removed from the town, and about 4000 troops still gar- 
risoned various points on the lower half of thelsland (15). 

Early on the morning of September 15, 1776, the occu- 
pants of the tavern heard a heavy bombardment from the 
British warships lying in the East River designed to silence 
the American battery on Horn's Hook (at the foot of East 
89th street) and to cover the British landing at Kip's Bay 
(foot of East 34th street.) The sound reached Washington's 
Headquarters in i6oth street and presently the occupants of 
McGown's house, looking out of their north windows, might 
have seen the General approaching at full speed on horse- 
back. The Chief dashed across the bridge, up the hill, past 
the house, and disappeared in a cloud of dust to the south. 
Before he arrived at Murray Hill, the British had landed 
and the American army was in full retreat for the heights 
above Harlem. 

It was well on in the afternoon when the British General 
Sir Henry Clinton's corps advanced up the Kingsbridge 
Road toward McGown's Pass. As it neared the latitude of 
the present 92d street, where the road then entered the 
territory of Central Park, it encountered Colonel Small- 
wood's brave Maryland troops which had been posted there 



to observe the enemy and cover the retreat of the American 
Battery at Horn's Hook. Clinton manoeuvred to cut off 
the latter, but they retreated safely up through the Pass to 
Harlem Heights beyond. These were the only Americans 
to retreat through the Pass, that day. All the others, from 
the Connecticut men at Kip's Bay to Putnam's command in 
the City, — including the troops of Fellows, Parsons, Doug- 
lass, Wadsworth, Scott, Silliman and Knox — escaped by way 
of the Bloomingdale Road on the west side to the heights 
north of Harlem Plain. 

The British troops, going up the east side, turned off into 
the New Bloomingdale Cross Road, which ran from the 
Kingsbridge road at 96th street to the Bloomingdale Road 
(Broadway) at about 93d street, but too late to intercept the 
Americans. That night, the British outposts took position 
at the Black Horse Tavern, McGown's Pass, while the main 
body of the King's Troops stretched clear across Central 
Park, their right resting on the East River at Horn's Hook 
and their left on the Hudson at 96th street (16, 54). 

An entertaining little story has been printed to the effect that 
on September 15, 1776, Daniel McGown was with the Ameri- 
can army ; that his son Andrew, aged twelve, was compelled 
by the Hessians arriving on the McGown farm to guide 
them to the American camp; that the boy gaily led the 
British troops across country toward the North River in a 
different direction from that taken by the Americans ; and 
that " thus did a boy of twelve save the army of his country 
from destruction." 

The only trouble with this beautiful little story is that it 
is not true. Daniel McGown, father of Andrew McGown 
of McGown's Pass, had been dead seventeen years. An- 
drew was born in 1742 and was therefore thirty-four years 
old, not a boy of twelve. The next Andrew had not yet 

19 



been born, his advent being ten years after this alleged 
event. (See page 14, ante.) Furthermore, few of the troops 
escaped by way of McGown's Pass, and if the grown up 
Andrew had piloted the Hessians toward the North River he 
would have led them directly to the flying columns escaping 
by way of the Bloomingdale Road. Much as it pains us to 
discredit the charming story of the twelve-year-old boy saving 
the American Army, we feel obliged to leave the honors for 
this achievement lying, where more strongly entrenched tra- 
dition or authentic history has placed them, either at the feet 
of the hospitable Madam Mary Lindley Murray of Murray 
Hill, or at the discreetly used heels of the American army 
itself. 

On the next day, September 16, 1776, was fought the Battle 
of Harlem Heights. At that time, two German battalions 
under Von Donop occupied McGown's Pass (21). They 
were Block's and Minegerode's men (27). While the battle 
was raging over on Morningside Heights, where the Co- 
lumbia University buildings now stand, the British, feeling 
the tremendous pressure of the American assault, called for 
artillery support. There were two three-pounder brass can- 
non at McGown's Pass under command of Lieut. Wallace of 
the Royal Artillery, but there were no horses to haul them 
to the scene of conflict. Capt. John Montresor, aide-de-camp 
to General Howe, perceiving the situation, had the cannon 
dragged over by hand. The armies were then contending 
in the bloody buckwheat field where Barnard College now 
stands. Nearing the scene, the artillery opened and fired 
sixty rounds apiece, but it was unable to save the British, 
who retired to their lines. These were the only cannon used 
on the battlefield of Harlem Heights (32). Lord Corn- 
wallis is thought to have made his headquarters at the Black 
Horse tavern on that day (26). 

20 



The writer has heard it claimed that Nathan Hale was 
captured at McGown's Pass when he fell into the British 
hands on the night of September 21, 1776. This statement 
must be taken cmn grano sails. It belongs to that numerous 
category of plausible fictions which are so misleading to the 
ready believer and not a little perplexing to the critical his- 
torian. Hale might have been captured here, but not a ves- 
tige of evidence has come to light up to the present time to 
prove it. The best authority on Nathan Hale is the pains- 
taking and discriminating work of Prof. Henry P. Johnston 
published in 1901. Professor Johnston thinks it quite pos- 
sible that Hale tried to escape from New York through the 
British lines at Harlem, and gives a hypothetical map of his 
route on Manhattan Island indicating his effort to pass them 
near 107th street and North River, but he admits that this 
is purely speculative. He concludes with the general state- 
ment that *' the weight of evidence is in favor of New York 
or vicinity as the place of capture," but as to establishing 
the exact point his ''searches have not met with success as 
yet" (28). 

From Sept. 16 to Oct. 12, 1776, the British were vigor- 
ously employed erecting fortifications from McGown's Pass, 
along the heights in the northern part of Central Park and 
westward to the North River (24). The following entries 
in a British orderly book (30) show something of the prog- 
ress of the work : 

" Sept. 20, 1776. All the fascines and pickets to be 
carried to Jones' house near the North River and to Major 
Musgrove's advanced post to the left of McGown's House. 

" Sept. 21. A working party of 400 men will parade to- 
morrow and march to McGowan's House. 

" Sept. 24. The working party at McGowan's Hill to 
consist of 200 men only until further orders. 

21 



"Sept. 25. The working party at McGowan's Hill will 
consist of 100 men only till further orders." 



There is a manuscript map of this line of defenses in 
the New York Historical Society (29). The Sauthier 
map (44) shows a redoubt in 1776 where Fort Clinton was 
erected, 18 14, and another where Nutter's Battery was erected 
in 18 1 4. 

There was evidently an extensive encampment in the 
western part of Central Park on what was formerly called 
the Great Hill, now called the Circle, lying between the 
West Drive and Eighth Avenue opposite 105th street. In 
making some excavations on the north side of this hill in 
1864, the park workmen found about tv/o feet below the sur- 
face distinct traces of a military camp. The ground, in 
spaces about eight feet square, was compactly trodden and 
in the corner of each space was a recess, rudely built of 
stone, for a fireplace, with pieces of strap iron fashioned 
into the shape of pot-hooks. Shot and bayonets were also 
found in the vicinity (5). Pieces of strap iron, bent into 
the shape of the letter S for the purpose of hanging kettles 
over a fire, are almost invariable accompaniments of Revo- 
lutionary camp-sites. The writer has excavated many of 
them on different camp-sites of that period. 

The manuscript map (29) of the attack on Fort Washing- 
ton on Saturday, November 16, 1776, shows Earl Percy's 
brigade of British troops camped in the northern end 
of Central Park, right resting on McGown's Pass, and 
marching through the Pass to the attack. The Sauthier 
map (44) also shows them proceeding by the same route. 

The capture of Fort Washington was followed by the 
saddest spectacle ever witnessed at McGown's Pass. The 
scene of the capitulation of Fort Washington was four miles 

22 



to the northward. The British casualties were 78 killed 
and 380 wounded. The Americans had 54 killed and 93 
wounded, and surrendered 2818 prisoners (16). About 5 
p. m., the prisoners, many of whom had already been plun- 
dered by the Hessians and all of whom showed the effects 
of a desperately fought battle, were formed in detachments 
and started on their march to New York. About 7 o'clock 
they began to file through McGown's Pass, the kindly shades 
of evening veiling their humiliation ; and for several hours 
that night the crisp November air resounded with the 
tramp of Washington's defeated soldiers on their way to 
years of suffering, many on their way to death, in the British 
prisons of the city. 

With the capture of Fort Washington, the British secured 
complete control of Manhattan Island, which they retained 
for seven years. They therefore had undisturbed posses- 
sion of McGown's Pass for all that time. 

From the nature of the situation, it is impossible to fol- 
low the course of events at the Pass during that period with 
much detail. When we do catch glimpses of the garrison, 
it appears to be composed of the mercenary troops known 
under the general term of " Hessians." With the British in 
secure possession of the island and the waters surrounding 
it, and with the great demand for troops and guns in other 
directions, it is not probable that the garrison was large or 
the armament heavy. 

The opening months of the year 1780, however, saw an 
unusual activity all over the island for a very remarkable 
reason. In January and February of that year, a cold wave 
froze up the Hudson River and the Harbor so solid that a 
detachment of British cavalry marched from Staten Island 
to New York on the ice and heavy cannon were hauled 
across the river from Paulus Hook (Jersey City). The 

23 



island having been robbed of its insular character and its 
occupants of their naval advantage, the British apprehended 
an attack from the Americans, and every post on the Island 
was on the qui vive. " If the enemy (the Americans) had 
crossed over at Harlem or on the North River anywhere to 
the south of the line of McGown's Pass, the 42 d Regiment, 
Brigade of Losberg, and the two Anspach Battalions, were 
to have advanced to positions which Gen. Knyphausen 
had fixed upon from Col. Clarke's house to the circular re- 
doubt on the East River, and several light field pieces were 
fixed upon sleighs ready to march to wherever they might 
be wanted " (36). 

The British at this time also established an elaborate sys- 
tem of signals for transmitting alarms from one end of the 
island to the other, and McGown's Pass, being midway of the 
island,was the central link in the chain. Upon alarm at King's 
Bridge, the signal would be passed along to McGown's Pass 
by firing cannon at Fort Knyphausen (Fort Washington) if 
by day, or by shooting rockets at the Morris Mansion (i6oth 
street) if at night. Then McGown's Pass would pass it 
along to the 37th Regiment Cantonment near the Dove 
Tavern, which stood at the northwest corner of 66th street 
and 3d avenue (26). Thence it would be repeated to the 
Murray House (at 37th street and Park avenue), Bunker 
Hill battery (between Center, Grand, Broome and Eliza- 
beth streets), and finally to Fort George. The signal code 
was adapted to give alarms of attacks from different points 
by different numbers of shots (36). 

Gen. Pattison, to meet other demands, had evidently 
stripped McGown's Pass of artillery, for on January 25, 
1780, his aide-de-camp, Capt. S. P. Adye, wrote to Capt. 
Nesbitt as follows : 



"Sir: 

I am directed by Major General Pattison to acquaint 
you for information of Major General Mathew that being 
yesterday informed that there was no gun at McGown's 
Pass to repeat the established signals, the General has or- 
dered out a four-pounder for that purpose. Ammunition is 
also sent with it in case General Mathew should think 
proper to have it posted in any situation of defence, as well 
as for making signals " (36). 

For many references to McGown's Pass during the Brit- 
ish occupation, we are indebted to Lieut. John Charles 
Philip Von Krafft, of the Regiment Von Bose, of the mer- 
cenary troops. His diary (52) is kept in his native 
language, and his attempts to render local names phoneti- 
cally has produced some amusing alphabetical combinations. 
Hell Gate is rendered " Hell Gott." McGown's name, with 
rare ingenuity, is spelled differently almost every time he 
refers to the Pass. He starts off with a highly interesting 
combination of Hell Gate and McGown's Pass in the refer- 
ence " Hell Gown's Pass : " 

"Aug. 19, 1782. The English Grenadiers and Light In- 
fantry from Long Island encamped at Hell Gowns Pass. 

" Sept. I. The 37th English regiment had encamped on 
the east side of MacGowns pass where Prince Karl's regi- 
ment had been. 

" Oct. 2. At 4 p. m. the regiment received orders to 
march immediately and to encamp until further orders at 
MaccGown's Pass where Prince Charl's regiment had been. 

" Nov. 20. I was detailed from the field to watch with 9 
men to McGon's Pass. 

" Dec. 15. This morning the detachment which had been 
stationed at McGoun's Bass (!) and had been detailed from 
the Body and Prinz Carl regiments returned to their regi- 
ments. 

" May 20, 1783. At noon the whole garrison of the New 

2r, 



York and Donop's, Prince Carl's and the (Hessian) Body 
regiment at MaccGoun's Pass had to pass in review be- 
fore the new Commanding Gen. in Chief, Gen. Carleton, in 
front of the new line on the east side. 

" Sept. 2. This noon, the order came that all should be 
ready to march to McGow : Pass, and that the foragers and 
sharp-shooters were to be sent there next morning at 9 
o'clock. 

" Sept. 5. All measures for the continuation of the war 
are again seriously undertaken. Our Brigade Grenadiers, 
Hessians, Landgrave, Bienau, and Knipphaussen regiment 
are daily expecting orders to march to our camp as laid out 
(which on account of the dearth of water has been post- 
poned) at McGow's Pass. 

" Oct. 25, An order came that Lengecke's Battalion was 
to go to Paulus Hook before Monday, the 27th, and Blate's 
Garrison Battalion to McGowns Pass in Barracks with the 
Yagers." 

In the course of time, Lieut. Von KrafTt was transferred 
to a post lower down on the east side, but he evidently en- 
joyed visiting McGown's Pass, perhaps on account of the 
cheering company of his compatriots stationed there, perhaps 
on account of the cheering influence of the sign of the 
Black Horse. On July 2, 1783, he writes in his diary: 
" This afternoon I went walking to Macgown's Pass in great 
melancholy, which has been following me for a long time 
now. Our Merciful Father protect me from all evil." 

To what Lieut. Von Krafft's melancholy was due is a 
matter of conjecture. Perhaps it was attributable to the 
mosquitoes at Turtle Bay to which he makes pathetic allu- 
sion under other dates. Perhaps it was in consequence of 
the hot days of which he complains. Perhaps it was due to 
the physic which he was taking — and which he recorded as 
faithfully as he chronicled the operations of the army. But 
perhaps it was due to the coquetry of Miss Cornelia de la 

26 



Metre, the daughter of a widow residing " past the 5th mile- 
stone, King's Bridge road, on New York Island," and the 
near approach of his departure for Europe. Whatever its 
cause, the melancholy appears to have been cured almost 
simultaneously with his secret marriage to Miss de la 
Metre — a union publicly ratified upon his return to New 
York the following year. For several years thereafter, 
Mr. de Krafft, as he then styled himself, supported himself 
and family by teaching in New York City, and still later 
became a surveyor in the employ of the United States 
Treasury Department (52). 

The signature of the treaty of peace brought with it prep- 
arations for the evacuation of the island. A Philadel- 
phia newspaper account, dated Sept. 13, 1783, says: 
" Every preparation is making for the speedy evacuation of 
New York, the heavy ordnance from Fort George being 
already embarked, and shipping is being taken up in this . 
City to assist in carrying off the garrison and stores " (47). 

As the Hessians were the first of the British troops 
to garrison McGown's Pass, Sept. 15, 1776, so they 
appear to have been the last to leave it, for under date of 
Oct. 25, 1783, only a month before evacuation. Von 
Kraift says : " An order came that Lengecke's Battalion 
was to go to Paulus' Hook before Monday, the 27th, and 
Blate's Garrison Battalion to McGowns Pass in barracks 
with the Yagers " (52). 

Under date of New York, Nov. 12, 1783, Sir Guy 
Carleton wrote to Washington : " The preparations for 
withdrawing His Majesty's troops from this place are so far 
advanced that, unless some untoward accident should inter- 
vene, I hope it may be accomplished some days before the 
end of the present month. At all events I propose to 
relinquish the posts at Kingsbridge and as far as McGown's 

27 



Pass inclusive on this island on the 21st inst. . /' The 
determination to evacuate these posts on the 21st was 
reiterated by Sir Gu}^ to Washington under date of 
November 19th (20), and the memoranda of Major George 
Beckwith (20) gives us almost the hour at which the Pass 
was to be abandoned. The first four paragraphs of his 
memoranda read as follows : 

" Kings Bridge as well as the Fort and the Works on the 
Heights within it, will be abandoned on Fryday morning, 
2ist inst., between 8 and 9 o'clock. 

'' The barracks at McGowen's, with that part of the island 
to the northward, will be abandoned on the same day about 
10 o'clock in the morning. 

" By sending Commissaries, the different barracks will be 
given up, with such furniture as may be left and in their 
present order — the works also in their present state — there 
are a few pieces of old cannon in them. 

" Horn's Hook Redoubt on the East River, will be aban- 
doned at the same time with McGo wen's pass, provided it 
is not to be occupied by Gen. Washington till the final 
evacuation of New York Island." 

On Friday, Nov. 21, Gen. Washington and Gov. 
Clinton arrived at Day's tavern, attended by a number of 
army officers, members of the Senate and Assembly and 
other persons of distinction. On that day the Continental 
troops took possession of McGown's Pass, and stationed 
their advanced pickets at the Dove Tavern (25, 37, 
and 51). 

Day's tavern was on the Kingsbridge Road, on the line 
of the present 126th street, 200 feet west of 8th avenue (40). 
The Dove, as before stated, was at the northwest corner of 
66th street and 3d avenue (26). 

The force stationed at McGown's Pass consisted of a 
provisional brigade of about 800 men, composed of detach- 

28 



ments of New York and Massachusetts troops encamped at 
West Point and Newburgh, under Brevet-Brig. General 
Henry Jackson. Four six-pounder cannon captured from 
the enemy and now displayed by Major Bauman formed 
part of the equipment of this command (53). 

Here the further approach of the American troops to New 
York was stayed until the enemy could be withdrawn from 
neighboring posts and embark. On Nov. 24, in anticipa- 
tion of the final act of the great Revolutionary Drama 
which was to occur the next day, Gen. Jackson issued 
orders dated " McGown's Pass, 24 Nov., 'S^,'' ordering the 
troops to " cook one day's provisions this evening and be 
in perfect readiness to march to-morrow morning at 8 o'clock" 
(53). The orders also gave instructions concerning the 
procedure of the troops upon taking possession of the city 
the next day. 

It is not difficult to picture the scene on those heights on 
the night of the 24th, — the glowing camp-fires cooking 
rations for the morrow, the bustle of preparation as the 
men furbished up their arms and service-worn uniforms, 
and the animated conversation as they canvassed the 
events of the coming day. 

On the morning of the 25th the camp was astir early. 
The brigade, under arms, awaited eagerly the courier from 
the City who was to tell of the final departure of the 
enemy. 

Soon, a British officer in scarlet uniform might have been 
seen riding up the post road from the south. Reining up 
his horse and saluting the American officer in command, he 
announced that the rear-guard of the British army was then 
embarking at the lower end of the island. The usual 
civilities having been exchanged, he wheeled about and dis- 
appeared down the road to join his departing comrades. A 

29 



few short, sharp orders brought the American brigade into 
marching order, and at the command of " Forward march,'' 
the Continentals issued forth from the works at McGown's 
Pass and began their triumphal march toward New York 
City. They proceeded in the following order (41, 42) under 
the general command of General Knox : 

A corps of Dragoons, Capt. John Stakes. 

Advanced guard of Light Infantry. 

A corps of artillery. Col. Ebenezer Stevens. 

A battalion of Light Infantry. 

A battalion of Massachusetts troops. 

Rear-guard, Major John Burnett. 

Colonel Stevens, who commanded the artillery, was later 
Major-General of New York Artillery, and an important 
figure on these heights in the war of 181 2-15 (17). 

When they arrived at the beginning of the Bowery Lane 
they halted, and there remained until about i o'clock, 
when, the British having left their posts in the Bowery, the 
Americans continued their march and took possession of 
the city (42). 



30 



III. 

McGOWN'S PASS IN THE WAR OF 1812-1815. 

History frequently walks in her own footprints — which 
is another way of stating the well-known principle of logic, 
that like causes produce Uke effects. The same physical 
conditions, for instance, which led the British army to 
occupy the otherwise insignificant hamlet of Yorktown, Va., 
in 178^, — the striking combination of high-river bluff, deep 
ravines, and precipitous inland slopes, — attracted the Con- 
federate army to it as a coign of military vantage in 1862. 
Human annals are replete with similar repetitions. 

It is not surprising therefore, that when, in the second 
war with Great Britain, the frontier of actual hostilities ap- 
proached New York City, the heights in the northern part 
of Central Park and vicinity should again become the scene 
of military activity. 

The declaration of war was made by the Congress of the 
United States, June 18, 18 12 (54). At first, attention was 
given to manning and strengthening existing fortifications 
and building new ones at the Battery and other environs of 
New York Harbor. For two years the defenses of the City 
were conducted upon the hypothesis that the enemy would 
assail the City only by ships, and quite regardless of the fact 
that he might land within 8 or 10 miles of the City, either 
on Long Island or Manhattan Island, and attack the City 
from the east and north, as he did in September and 
November, 1776 (9). 

31 



In 1814, with the British Commander-in-Chief lying at 
Bermuda and gathering his forces for a descent somewhere 
— whether upon New Orleans, Norfolk, Washington, Balti- 
more, New York, or Newport the Americans did not know 
— and with the knowledge of the defenselessness of the City 
on flank and rear, the military and municipal authorities 
realized the necessity of protecting themselves in new 
directions. 

About the end of May, Gen. Joseph G. Swift, Chief of 
Engineers and Superintendent of Land Fortifications, with 
Governor Tompkins, commander of the Third Military Dis- 
trict of the United States and Mayor DeWitt Clinton, exam- 
ined the northern approaches of New York, and Gen. Swift 
gave his opinion that the heights skirting the Harlem Plains 
on the South and West should be fortified (17). In July, 
secret intelligence was received of an intended attack on the 
City by the enemy (49), intelligence which seemed to be 
confirmed by the appearance of a fleet off Sandy Hook. 

This stimulated a forcible report to the Common Council, 
July 14, by its special Committee of Defense, urging the 
construction of fortifications in Brooklyn and at Hell Gate 
(9), and on the same day, the corner-stone for Fort Stevens 
at Hallets Point was laid (17). 

The bombardment of Stonington, Conn., Aug. 10, 18 14 
(38), disclosed the presence of the British in the Sound with 
startling certainty, and enforced the necessity for swift 
preparations to defend the City on the north. 

On Thursday morning, August i8th, the Common Coun- 
cil of the City, with 200 men employed by the Corporation 
at Bellevue who volunteered their services, commenced a 
fort at McGown's Pass under a federal salute from Capt. 
Messerve's troop of flying artillery. The work was named 
Fort Clinton (34) obviously in honor of Mayor DeWitt 

32 



Clinton. The Committee of Defense,* in its formal 
announcement of this event in the New York Columbian of 
August 19, 18 1 4, says : " This work is the commencement 
of a chain of forts to be erected on Harlem Heights for the 
defence of this city, under Gen. Swift, in the construction of 
which the Committee of defence calculate upon the aid of 
their patriotic fellow citizens, as in the erection of those on 
Long Island." (34). 

The chain of fortifications, of which those at McGown's 
Pass formed a part, was as follows : A redoubt on Benson's 
Point, near 3d avenue and io6th street ; those at Mc- 
Gown's Pass, to be described more in detail hereafter ; the 
stone tower generally called '' blockhouse No. i," in the north- 
western part of Central Park, about fourteen yards south of 
109th street and seven yards west of 7th avenue ; a stone tower 
between 113th and 114th streets and 9th and loth avenues ; 
a stone tower on the south side of 121st street about no 
yards east of loth avenue : a stone tower on the south side 
of 123d street about fifty-four yards east of loth avenue; 
and Fort Laight, at Manhattanville, about twenty yards 
north of 124th street and 120 yards east of nth avenue 

(39. 48). 

Before describing more particularly the works at Mc- 
Gown's Pass, a word may be said concerning the interest- 
ing landmark in the northwestern part of the Park, before 
alluded to. This tower and the remains of the similar stone 



* The following served on the Committee of Defense of the Common 
Council during the years 181 2-1 5; Alderman Nicholas Fish, lawyer; 
John Morss, mason ; Peter Mesier, flour merchant ; Thomas Carpen- 
ter, merchant ; Geo. Buckmaster, retired ; and Thomas R. Smith, mer- 
chant ; and Assistant Alderman Samuel Jones, Jr., lawyer; Peter 
Hawes, lawyer ; John Drake, merchant; John Mitchie, starch m'f'r; 
Joseph W. Bracicett, lawyer; Gideon Tucker, dealer in Plaster of 
Paris; Jonas Mapes, merchant tailor ; and Isaac S. Douglass, merchant. 

33 



tower at 123d street have been marked by tablets by the 
Women's AuxiUary to the American Scenic and Historic 
Preservation Society. 

The tablet on the Central Park tower reads as follows : 

THIS BLOCKHOUSE 

WAS PART OF A LINE OF FORTIFICATIONS 

EXTENDING FROM THE HUDSON TO THE 

HARLEM RIVER. BUILT FOR THE DEFENCE 

OF NEW YORK BY ITS PATRIOTIC CITIZENS 

DURING THE WAR OF 1812-1815. 

THIS TABLET IS ERECTED BY 

THE women's auxiliary TO THE AMERICAN SCENIC 

AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION SOCIETY. 

A. D. 1905. 

This Structure, called a '• tower " by Randel and a 
" blockhouse " by Swift, is about thirty-four feet square at 
the base. The height — or depth— of the walls varies on 
account of the unevenness of the great rock on which they 
are built. The western wall measures nineteen feet from 
top to ground. The walls have a decided batter, to increase 
their stability. The flat roof is about five feet below the 
coping. The blockhouse has, or had, two small apertures 
in each wall. It did not, as commonly supposed, have an 
overhanging second story, with machicolations or loopholes 
in the overhung floor so that a plunging fire could be 
directed against an enemy in close attack. Existing illus- 
trations depict such a construction on Mill Rock in the East 
River and directly over the barrier gate at McGown's Pass ; 
but the four " blockhouses," of which the Central Park 
blockhouse was No. i, were not of the typical blockhouse 
construction. Gen. Swift's description (48) shows that they 
were designed to mount on their terraces, en barbette, a 
single heavy traversing gun each — that is, a cannon which 

34 



could be aimed in any direction. The " terrace " in this 
work is the sunken roof, constituting the platform of the 
gun. 

The portion of the wall rising about breast high above the 
level of the terrace is the parapet. A gun mounted to fire over 
a parapet instead of through an embrasure is called " en bar- 
bette." The principle of these towers was the same as that 
of the picturesque Martello Towers which one sees at 
Kingston and Quebec, Canada. The Martello towers, 
vv'hile round instead of square, and more ingeniously con- 
structed than the towers on Harlem Heights, mounted a 
single heavy piece each, en barbette, on an elevated terrace, 
just as the latter were designed to do. 

The Harlem Heights towers were within supporting dis- 
tance of each other, and near enough for the interchange of 
grapeshot. Gen. Swift's report indicates that they had not 
been mounted with guns when the troops were mustered out 
in December, 1814 (48). 

The principal works at McGown's Pass were three in 
number, occupying commanding elevations at the angles of 
an almost equilateral triangle measuring about 550 or 600 
feet on a side. The largest and highest was on the little 
plateau just west of the East Drive opposite the present 
McGown's Pass Tavern, at an elevation of 89 feet above 
tide-water. This was called Fort Fish, obviously in honor 
of Nicholas Fish, chairman of the Committee of Defense. 
It was an open earthwork, mounting five guns of heavy 
calibre (4, 23, 48.) The breastworks _^are now gone, but 
the flat plateau is easily recognized. 

The second work was Fort Clinton, an earthwork occupy- 
ing the summit of the rock overlooking Harlem Mere, 600 
feet east of Fort Fish, at an elevation of nearly 50 feet. It 
mounted three pieces. Two old pieces, deeply pitted with rust, 

35 



have for many years been on the ground at this site. The 
American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society in 1904 
and again in 1905 urged the Commissioner of Parks to mount 
these interesting reUcs and to monument the site. The 
breastwork here is clearly traceable. Fort Clinton, as 
previously mentioned, was named after Mayor DeWitt Clin- 
ton. As nearly as we can judge from contemporary maps, 
it occupies the site of one of the Revolutionary redoubts. 

Five hundred and fifty feet to the northward of Fort 
Clinton and 600 northeast of Fort Fish, on an advantageous 
point 45 feet above the water, was built a work called 
Nutter's Battery, mounting one piece. The Battery appears 
to have derived its name from Valentine Nutter, whose 
house stood a few rods to the northward, on the line of 6th 
avenue between 109th and iioth streets (39) on the old 
Nutter farm referred to on page 9, Nutter's Battery oc- 
cupied the site of a revolutionary redoubt. 

Fort Clinton was connected on the east with the head of 
the natural barrier presented by Harlem Creek by a breast- 
work and ditch. It was also connected wath Nutter's Bat- 
tery by a breastwork of which very prominent vestiges re- 
main. About midway between Fort Clinton and Nutter's 
Battery the Post Road crossed the line of this breastwork. 
Here was erected a barrier gate, surmounted by a block- 
house flanked on each side by a one-gun battery. This site 
can be recognized by the gap between the end of the breast- 
v/ork which comes down the hill from Fort Clinton and the 
prominent rock a rod to the northward. 

Nutter's Battery wms connected with Fort Fish by a breast- 
work which can be traced for quite a distance from the 
Battery. 

Immediately at the foot of these works on the west are 
the valley and stream before referred to. This side was ob- 

36 



structed by a strong abattis (an entanglement of felled trees), 
commanded by the guns of Fort Fish (48). The works at 
McGown's Pass were erected under the immediate direction 
of Major Horn (48). The work was performed chiefly by 
volunteer citizens. As already mentioned, the work here 
was initiated by volunteers from Bellevue, and they were 
followed by almost every conceivable class of men — the 
Society of Tammany, the students of Columbia College, 
medical students, the Marine Society, the Society of Tallow 
Chandlers, butchers, members of the bar, Free Masons, 
firemen, Sons of Erin, colored citizens, etc. They worked 
by daylight and they worked by moonlight, in their eager- 
ness to complete the security of the City (34). 

A typical example of the enthusiasm with which these 
volunteers went about their work is afforded by a party of 
the Master Butchers' Association who worked at McGown's 
Pass in the latter part of September. Bright and early in 
the morning they started from the City on their six-mile 
march for Harlem, headed by a brass band. They carried 
a large banner bearing the following inscription, the last 
line referring to their recent work on the Brooklyn fortifica- 
tions : 

" Friends of Our Country 

Free Trade and Butchers' Rights 

From Brooklyn's Fields to Harlem Heights." 

By sun-down, they had thrown up and neatly sodded a 
breastwork east of Fort Clinton about 100 feet long, 20 feet 
thick and 4 feet high (17.) 

Harlem Heights was then about six miles from the City, 
and the distance was so great that there were fewer volun- 
teers here than for the Brooklyn Defenses. To save them 
a six-mile tramp daily, boats were run from the city to 

37 



Harlem, and many sightseers availed themselves of these 
excursions to witness the progress of the work. 

On August 31, 18 1 4, the New York Columbian said: 

" The fortifications at M'Gown's Pass on the Harlem 
road have acquired a great degree of strength and perfec- 
tion and are worth a day's work to go and see them. They 
are compact and regular and nearly ready for cannon and 
artillerists." 

On Sept. 20, 18 1 4, the Columbian said: "With the 
fair weather at the commencement of this week, the labor of 
completing the works for the defence of this city is re- 
sumed. . . . The works at Harlem Heights are numer- 
ous, compact, and judiciously placed, and form a romantic 
and picturesque view, as well as impassable barrier to an 
enemy's march." 

On September 30, McGown's and the adjacent heights 
were garrisoned by a brigade of 1,600 State militia under 
Brig.-Gen. Heermance. There were altogether serving in 
the 3rd Military District of New York at that time 15,000 
militia and 1,000 sea fencibles (19). 

An order from the Adjutant-General's office dated Nov. 3, 
18 14, reads as follows: 

" Brigadier-General Curtenius will detail from his 'Brigade 
a detachment of 400 exclusive field and company officers 
to relieve the guard and fatigue party from General Mapes's 
Brigade, stationed at McGowar^'s Pass, Harlaem, on Satur- 
day, the 5th inst. The Brigade Quartermaster will see that 
the detachment is properly supplied for one week. It 
will occupy the Cantonment of General Mapes's Detach- 
ment " (19). 

In November, 1814, Governor Tompkins made a tour of 
all the city's fortifications. On the nth he reached Harlem 
Heights, inspected the works at McGown's Pass, and re- 

38 



viewed the whole brigade commanded by General Heer- 
mance (34). 

On December 2, the three-months term of enlistment of a 
large portion of the militia expired, and as that date ap- 
proached, and the prospects of peace were bright, prepara- 
tions were made for mustering out. On Nov. 21, 
Heermance's Brigade, with others, was ordered to be 
mustered and inspected for pay as soon as possible with a 
view to its discharge on December 2d. 

The events of the next few weeks proved the hopes for 
peace to be well grounded. On December 24, 18 14, the 
treaty of Ghent was signed, and the first months of 18 15 
saw McGown's Pass deserted. 



39 



IV. 

MOUNT ST. VINCENT AND CENTRAL PARK. 

In describing the military events at McGown's Pass during 
the two wars with Great Britain we have dropped the narra- 
tive of its civil history, and must go back a few years to pick 
it up again. 

Soon after the Revolution, the tavern at McGown's Pass 
appears to have passed into the possession, but not owner- 
ship, of one Legget, for on a road map made by Christopher 
Colles in 1789 the tavern is called " Legget's " (47). Leg- 
get's was still a famous refectory in the closing years of the 
1 8th century (53). A view of " Legget's Halfway Tavern " 
appears in Volume VIII. of the " Public Papers of George 
Clinton " opposite page 292 (20). The Black Horse 
Tavern stood until 1808 (26). 

In 1790, the old Dyckman-McGown stone house was 
torn down, and a more commodious frame dwelling erected 
a little to the northward, part being on the old founda- 
tion (ss). 

The property remained in the possession of the McGown 
family until December i, 1845. ^^ that date, the executors 
and heirs-at-law of Andrew McGown, Sr., deceased, deeded 
to Thos. B. Odell, in consideration of the sum of $6,000, 
6.958 acres of land lying on the east side of the King's 
Bridge road between io2d street and 107th street (11). 
For those who are interested in the line of the old King's 



Bridge road at this point, the boundaries of the property as 
mentioned in the deed are here given. The Hne begins at 
tlie intersection of the northerly Hne of 104th street with 
the easterly line of King's Bridge road, and runs : 









Degrees 


Minutes 


Ion, 


g said line 


North 


28 


25 


« 


a a 


it 


52 


5 


(< 


(( (( 


<( 


57 


25 


u 


a ii 


(( 


77 


10 


(( 


(< (( 


u 


49 


30 




Thence South 


I 


25 






(< 


8 


10 






i( 












<< 


13 


10 






(( 


46 


20 






(( 


23 


40 






<( 


82 


20 






u 


76 


15 






it 


69 


40 






u 


73 









(( 


77 


25 





Feet 


East 


153 


(< 


216 


u 


74 


(( 


133 


(( 


94 


(( 


243 


(( 


84 


(( 


67 


West 


SO 


(C 


21 


u 


200 


(( 


94 


(( 


20 


(( 


3^3 


u 


50 


<< 


52 


East 


363 


a 


37 


deceased, who 



To the King's Bridge Road. 
Thence along said road North 10 50 

a a n a a 24 20 

To the place of beginning. 

The heirs-at-law of Andrew McGown, Sr. 
executed this deed were Margaret McGown, his widow; 
Andrew McGown, Jr. (with Elizabeth, his wife) ; Samson B. 
McGown (with Caroline, his wife) ; and Margaret E., wife 
of Isaac Adriance. The executors were Margaret, Andrew 
and Samson B. McGown. 

It may be noted in passing that in this deed, the name is 
spelled " McGown " invariably. 

Odell retained the property only sixteen months, when 
this identical tract passed into the possession of a charitable 
and educational institution of so much importance and repu- 

41 



tation that for many years the name McGown's Pass was 
completely superseded and the place became known as Mount 
Saint Vincent. 

This famous institution was the Sisters of Charity of St. 
Vincent de Paul. The mother society was instituted by 
Elizabeth Seton in Emmitsburg, Md., in 1809. In 18 17 the 
the Sisters were summoned by Bishop Connolly to New 
York where a new mission was formed. In 1846, this New 
York branch, then numbering thirty-three, was erected into 
a separate and independent community, of which Sister 
Elizabeth Boyle was first Mother Superior (i.) 

On April i, 1847, Thomas B. Odell deeded to Elizabeth 
Boyle the tract of nearly seven acres above described for a 
consideration of $6,000, Sister Elizabeth assuming a mort- 
gage which Odell had placed upon the property (12.) 

During the Revolution, the Island of Manhattan had been 
denuded of all trees except a few fruit orchards. Part of 
this denudation was for military purposes and part was in 
order to secure fire-wood. Fire-wood was so scarce, that 
old ships were broken up to supply fuel (36.) At the time 
of the occupation of the McGown's Pass property by the 
Academy and Convent of St. Vincent, a fine growth of sixty- 
four years had clothed the hills and valleys with verdure. 
The advancing tide of population of the great city was still 
five or six miles distant, and the region still possessed its 
rural charm. 

The old-fashioned wooden mansion at McGown's Pass of 
which the Sisterhood took possession contained two stories 
of four rooms each and attic, and had outside balconies from 
which the views were unsurpassed (i, 43.) Over the trees 
one could see the East and Harlem Rivers, and Long Island 
Sound, with their clusters of green islands in the sparkling 
waters and the passing sails of countless vessels plying 

42 



between New York and Long Island, Connecticut, Rhode 
Island and Massachusetts. In the eastern foreground nestled 
the ancient little village of Harlem. To the south was 
Yorkville ; to the west Bloomingdale and to the northwest 
Manhattanville (i.) 

On May 2, 1847, Bishop Hughes celebrated Mass in the 
southwest parlor of the old house, thus consecrating the 
spot to a great work (i.) Early in 1847, ^ north wing was 
added, and in this the first commencement exercises were 
held September 8, 1847. In 1848, the south wing was 
built. There was an old barn on the premises which was 
converted into a laundry. In 1850, a large structure con- 
taining a study hall, recreation hall and class rooms was 
built ; and a two story stone house was erected on the north- 
west as a residence for the chaplain. About this time a 
Free School was opened in a small building, either purchased 
or erected, in the ravine. The pupils came from the sur- 
rounding country and probably numbered about fifty or sixty. 
Lastly, in 1855, a stately brick edifice, containing a beautiful 
chapel and large dining rooms, completed the group of 
academic buildings (43.) 

Meanwhile, this center of religious and educational activ- 
ity was threatened by the movement for the creation of 
Central Park. The law authorizing the building of Central 
Park from 59th street to io6th street which was passed in 
1853 took in part of the Mount St. Vincent property. The 
report of the Commissioners of estimate and assessment was 
confirmed by the supreme court on Feb. 5, 1856, (18.) On 
December 20, 1 856, the Sisters of Charity bought the estate of 
Edwin Forrest called Font Hill,* now Mt. St. Vincent-on-the- 
Hudson, fifteen miles from the City Hall, and in 1858 they 



From the family name of La Font, former owners. 

43 



held their last Commencement Exercises at McGown's Pass. 
This noble sisterhood now numbers 1360 (43). 

That portion of Central Park lying between io6th street 
and iioth street, containing the fortifications of which we 
have spoken, was added to the Park in 1863 (18.) 

The Sisters of Charity, however, had not forsaken the 
spot forever ; neither were the martial associations of the 
locality ended. The outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 
soon brought in its melancholy train the need for hospitals and 
nurses, and the old Mt. St. Vincent buildings were taken by 
the Government for the care of wounded soldiers. Here, 
the Sisters of Charity continued to devote themselves to the 
relief of those who found refuge, care and comfort in the 
wards of their old Convent and Academy home until the 
close of the War in 1865 (4' 7-) 

The Commissioners then utilized some of the buildings for 
administrative offices. But the ghosts of departed publicans 
hovered over the spot and the ancient traditions of the tavern 
site could no longer brook interruption. The Commissioners 
of Central Park, therefore, on Oct. 19, 1866, authorized 
Comptroller Andrew H. Green to lease the Mt. St. Vincent 
buildings, or such part thereof as might be necessary, to 
Alexander Mc C. Stetson for a refreshment house, the Com- 
missioners reserving the right to regulate the kind of re- 
freshments sold (7.) 

On December 13th of the same year the Comptroller was 
authorized to put the brick building formerly used for a con- 
vent chapel in order for use as a statuary gallery and 
museum. Thus, while one portion of the Mt. St. Vincent 
buildings ministered to the appetites of those who visited 
these then remote parts, another was converted into a temple 
of art, concerning whose future as a home of the Muses the 
Commissioners entertained high expectations (6). With 

44 



provisions for meeting such a wide range of physical and 
intellectual wants, the buildings constituted the home of a 
veritable " happy family," consisting of the landscape gar- 
deners, the engineers and the police, not to mention Mine 
Host Stetson and the curator of statuary to Fame unknown. 
Stetson's tenure ended about March 13, 1872, when the 
tavern privilege was let to Radford & Ryan, but the name 
Stetson's hocel clung to the place for several years after- 
wards. Columbus Ryan was a Superintendent in the Park, 
and, either in partnership with Radford, as Radford & Ryan, 
or alone; or in partnership with someone else, as Ryan & 
Co., he was identified with the tavern up to the fire of 1881 

About 5.20 o'clock on the morning of January 2, 1881, 
fire broke out in the basement of the frame building used as 
a hotel and extended to the brick building used as the art 
gallery. Both were destroyed. The fire was due to a de- 
fective fireplace. The report of the fire department gives 
the area of the hotel as 125x75, and the area of the art 
building as 75x100 (14). The statuary was rescued and 
stored in the arsenal building at the lower end of the Park 
(7). The hotel, although occupied by Ryan & Co., was still 
called Stetson's Hotel by some at this period (40). 

Within a week after the fire, the New York Municipal 
Society filed with the Park Board a formal protest against 
the erection of another refreshment house, and citizens filed 
counter petitions in favor of a new restaurant. In June, 
1 88 1, the Commissioners ordered the ruins cleared away, 
the walls leveled, the material covered with mold, and the 
ground planted with creeping vines. Thereupon the 
controversy subsided without the manning of the old re- 
doubts or actual hostilities on this already sufficiently his, 
toric spot. The site remained unoccupied for two years, 

45 



and then, in 1883, the present tavern was built and the 
ancient uses of the spot revived. On June 6, 1883, the place 
was licensed to C. S. Conklin (7). 

Owing to the confusion arising from the duplication of 
the name of " Mt. St. Vincent," Mother Jerome, of the 
Sisters of Charity at the new Mt. St. Vincent-on-the-Hudson, 
requested the Commissioners to abolish that name from the 
Central Park map, and that was formally done April 16, 

1884 (7). 

On October 8, 1885, Conklin was authorized to transfer 
his lease of the tavern to Patrick McCann, a brother-in-law 
of Richard Croker, and McCann ^' held the fort " so to 
speak, for nearly five years. On March 6, 1890, the Com- 
missioners authorized leasing '^the place to Gabriel Case, who 
who kept it for fourteen years (7). 

On January 3, 1 89 1, the Commissioners of Central Park, 
who had continued to call the place *' Mt. St. Vincent " in- 
formally, in spite of their resolution abolishing the name, 
formally voted to adopt another designation (7), and so the 
historic old name of McGown's Pass has come into use 
again with almost everybody except the old stage drivers in 
the Park who perversely insist on calling it Mt. St. Vincent 
to this day. 

On March i, 1904, the present courteous host, John L. 
Scherz, assumed control of McGown's Pass Tavern, and 
there looks out for the wants of the public in a manner 
worthy of the traditions of that ancient hostelry. 



46 



REFERENCES. 

1. Brunowe, Marion J. " A Famous Convent School." 

2. Carrington, Henry B. "Battles of the Revolution." 

3. " Colonial Laws of New York from the year 1664 to the Revolu- 

tion," III, 895. 

4. Commissioners of the Central Park. Report for year ending Dec. 

31, 1863. 

5. Commissioners of the Central Park. Report for year ending Dec. 

31, 1864. 

6. Commissioners of the Central Park. Report for year ending Dec. 

3i> 1867. 

7. Commissioners of the Department of Public Parks- Official Minutes 

and Documents, various years. 

8. Commissioners of City Plan under Law of 1807. Map of the City 

of New York. 

9. Common Council of the City of New York. Official Minutes, 

10. Conveyances in office of Register of Deeds of New York, liber 35, 

page 50. 

11. Conveyances, liber 468, page 462. 

12. Conveyances, liber 489, page 44. 

13. Dawson, Henry B. " Battle of Harlem Heights," in Corporation 

Manual for 1868. 

14. Fire Department of the City of New York. Report for year end- 

ing Dec. 31, 1881, 

15. Fiske, John. "The American Revolution." 

16. Force, Peter. *' American Archives." 

17. Guernsey R. S. " New York in the War of 181 2." 

18. Hall, Edward Hagaman. " Biography of Andrew Haswell Green " 

in 9th Annual Report of American Scenic and Historic Preserva- 
tion Society. 

19. Hastings, Hugh, State Historian. " Military Papers of Gov. 

Daniel D. Tompkins." 

20. Hastings, Hugh, State Historian. " Public Papers of George 

Clinton." 

21. Hay, John. " Oration on the Centennial Anniversary of the Battle 

of Harlem Heights." 

22. Hill, George Everett, and Waring, George E. Jr. " Old Wells and 

Watercourses," in " Historic New York." 

23. Holland, John J., artist and architect, and others. Water color 

drawings accompanying map of Gen. Swift in New York His- 
torical Society. 

24. " Howe, Lieutenant-General Sir William, Narrative of. ' Published 

in London, 1780* 

47 



25- Irving, Washington. " Life of Washington." 

2(i. Johnston, Henry P. " Battle of Harlem Heights." 

27. Johnston, Henry P. " Campaign of 1776 aromid New York." 

28. Johnston, Henry P. " Nathan Hale." 

29. Manuscript Map of " Attacks of Fort Washington by His Majesty's 

Forces under the Command of Gen. Sir Wm. Howe 16 Novr. 
1776," in New York Historical Society. 

30. Manuscript Orderly Book of British Guards, in New York Histori- 

cal Society. 

31. Map of New York Island of period of Revolution. See also Nos. 

26 and T^-}^. 

32. " Montresor, Capt. John, Journals of." New York Historical 

Society Collections, 18S1. 

33. "New York Herald." Article on McGown's Pass Nov. 4, 1900. 

34. " New York Columbian " newspaper. 

35. O'Callaghan, E. B. " Documents Relative to the Colonial History 

of New York," VI, 287, 461, 555, 764; VII, 432, etc. 

36. " Pattison, Gen. James, Official Letters of." New York Historical 

Society Collections, 1875. 
y]. " Pennsylvania Journal," Nov. 29, 1783. 

38. Preble, George Henry. " History of the Flag of the United States." 

39. Randel, John, Jr., in Corporation Manual of New York, 1864. 

40. Riker, James. " Revised History of Plarlem." 

41. Riker, James. "Evacuation Day, 1783." 

42. " Rivington's Gazette," New York, Nov. 26, 1783. 

43. Rose, Mother Mary, Secretary of Mt. Vincent Academy. 

44. Sauthier, C. J. Map of part of New York Island, surveyed by order 

of the Earl of Percy, Nov. 16, 1776. 

45. Seward, Hon. Frederick W., ex-Assistant Secretary of State of the 

United States. 

46. Shannon, Joseph. " Corporation Manual of the City of New York " 

for 1869. 

47. Shannon, Joseph. *' Corporation Manual of City of New York " 

for 1870. 

48. Swift, Gen. Joseph G. Manuscript report on the Fortifications of 

New York, Dec. 1814, in New York Historical Society. 

49. Valentine, D. T. " Corporation Manual of the City of New York " 

for 1857, 

50. Valentine, D. T. " Corporation Manual of the City of New York " 

for 1859. 

51. Van Cortlandt, Lieut. Gov., Notebook of, in Magazine of American 

History, V, 134. 

52. " Von Krafft, Lieut. John Charles Philip, Diary of." New York 

Historical Society Collections. 

53. Wilson, James Grant. " Memorial History of New York." 

54. Winsor, Justin. "Narrative and Critical History of America." 



3477-125 

Lot 52 48 




le author, 1905 




M A 
,hich has been drawn, to Ihe 



p OF CENTRAL PARK NORTH OF 103d STREET, 1905. 

„ , „ .Q.A Drawn bv the author, 1905 

same scale Gen. Swift's plan of the fortifications at McGown s Pass m I8l4. uraw , 



OCT 11 1905. 



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